Researchers and theorists in the management and educational leadership fields have debated the importance of mission statements. This study investigated this issue within the context of American schools that are members of the Tri-Association (Mexico, Central America, Colombia, and the Caribbean). The results showed that about the same percentage…

The purpose of this study is to examine the independent direct effects of student and principal perceptions of academic climate on student achievement in high school. To date, few studies have considered the influence of principal perceptions of academic climate on student achievement. In the present study, we test a set of two-level hierarchical…

The purpose of this article is to describe lessons learned from studying the leadership in eight award-winning secondary schools and districts that were recognized for successfully leveraging technology as part of their efforts for school improvement. Data were collected through observations, interviews, and document analysis in schools and…

Recent reform initiatives, such as the Title I School Improvement Grants and Race to the Top, recommended a principal change to jump-start school turnaround. Yet, few educational researchers have examined principal change as way to improve schools in a state of systematic reform; furthermore, no large-scale quantitative study has determined the…

The purpose of this study was to establish the content, construct, and predictive validity of the Effective Board Leadership Practices Survey (EBLPS). The EBLPS was designed to measure the leadership practices of boards of education that support student achievement. A literature review identified 12 board leadership practices supportive of student…

The purpose of this study was to investigate the professional experiences of foreign-born faculty members serving in U.S. educational leadership preparation programs, utilizing a cultural approach to discern their lived experiences related to professional life. Cultural values were explored as reflected in professional life experiences. The…

The present study examines the nonroutine problems that eight Anglo-American principals encountered in managing three elementary bilingual immersion schools in the Northwest United States. Using qualitative inquiry to collect data, I employed the multisited ethnographic research model. The principals reported nonroutine problems in the following…

Literature in leadership studies is devoid of knowledge about the unique ways that Latina/Chicana educators engage as leaders, activists, and agents for change. Women's studies, ethnic studies, and Chicana feminist studies alert us to the complex role that social context and the intersectionality of gender, ethnicity/race, and class play in…

This study investigated educational leaders' critical evaluations of California's landmark contemporary school equity legislation "Williams v. the State of California". Qualitative interview analysis indicated that leaders perceived the equity measure to be necessary but insufficient in advancing the larger project of educational justice. Hence,…

This study explores how educational champions--teachers who initiate unsolicited innovation--construct their entrepreneurial endeavors while interacting with principals' management styles and how that interaction influences the sustainability of teachers' initiatives. Through semistructured interviews (N = 71) and analysis anchored in grounded…

Recent studies of school discipline (Skiba, Michael, Nardo, & Peterson, 2002; see also, NAACP Legal Defense and Education Fund, n.d.) have called for greater scrutiny over treatment of students in varying demographic contexts. Minimal research, however, has grappled with the ethics of disciplinary practices using legal data. Utilizing information…

The focus of this study was to explore the relationships between the authentic leadership of building principals and the trust, engagement, and intention to return of their teaching staffs. School principals (n = 28) and their teaching staffs (n = 633) were surveyed. Teacher trust and engagement were found to be significantly related to principal…

Much of the earlier research on women in leadership has told the stories of White women. Since there are very low numbers of superintendents of color both male and female nationwide, there have been very few stories reported of women leaders of color (Brunner & Grogan, 2007). This article describes the leadership issues involved when one Black…

Leader succession is often the result of a broken system, resulting in the loss of leadership gains from the exiting leader and leaving the incoming leader without proper support for success. This system needs replacing, with a system of dynamic succession planning that is carefully planned and an integral part of a school's improvement plan. To…

In the city setting in which this article's investigation took place, high school dropout rates have remained above 50% for better than three decades. This article reports on a photographic inquiry into urban youth's perceptions of the very institution of school, revealing reasons behind the multigenerational school disengagement represented by…